Reports have surfaced that world number one Rafael Nadal stands to get a staggering $1 million paycheck per night for the newly developed International Premier Tennis League, a concept made by India’s doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi.
Nadal has reportedly committed to participate at the inaugurual International Premier Tennis League. This competition is said to have the same concept of the Indian Premier League of Cricket and will be launched officially this weekend in Dubai.
Ground rules of the IPTL includes players who have held the number one ranking or won a Grand Slam title to choose which matches they want to play, or avoid for that matter.
The competitions will take place between November 28 and December 20, long after the ATP or WTA season has ended for this calendar year, and will take place in five Asian cities – Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong. Each of the teams in these cities will bid for its players on Sunday at the Oberoi Hotel in the Middle Eastern capital.
There have been reports that at least three players in the WTA’s world top ten have signed up for this competition including world number two Victoria Azarenka. Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki have reportedly committed for this undertaking. In the men’s side, Roger Federer has yet to commit while Andy Murray is still in negotiations with the organizers.
A tennis insider has told The Guardian that there’s still abit of skepticism in the undertaking.
“Although the players are still sceptical, nobody wants to miss out on a possible money spinner, so a lot of them are putting their names down for Friday’s reveal. When the money starts being paid into their accounts, that’s when they will start believing that this concept is for real,” the insider said.
